Piston rings, pistons, and assemblies or combinations thereof



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BYMIW 14mm 8 V 9 United States Patent-Ofiice 3 ,237,953 Patented Mar. 1, 1966 3,237,953 PISTON RINGS, PISTONS, AND ASSEMBLIES OR COMBINATIONS THEREOF William J. Lucas, 2347 38th St., Rock Island, Ill. Filed Dec. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 328,630 7 Claims. (Cl. 277-172) My invention is for improvements in piston rings and the adapting of pistons to said piston rings for use in internal combustion engines which use gas, oil, or other explosive fuel.

It includes an improved form of piston ring as well as piston design requirements necessary to its use. Each said ring is to be located in an upwardly sloping peripheral groove formed in the outer circumference of a piston near the upper end of said piston. The ring or rings and the grooves extend inwardly and upwardly in the wall of the piston with their upper surfaces at an included angle of from 45 to 88 degrees with the vertical face of the cylinder in which such ring and piston assembly reciprocate. The ring basically is a true parallelogram in shape, but with a small flat area along its lower outer edge at an approximate 90 degree angle to the vertical cylinder wall and having a small radius along the rings lower outermost edge. The piston grooves are to correspond substantially to the piston rings with allowances necessary to the assemblage and to conditions which arise during the operation of said internal combustion engines. The single ring or the lowest ring when two or more are used, is to have adjacent thereto a small recess 7 about .005 inch deep, provided in the circumference of the piston with holes or openings venting said recess to the inside of the piston thereby providing for the return of excess oil to the engine crankcase.

The objects of my invention are to provide apparatus which will improve the performance of engines in which it is used whether they be constructed with single or multiple groupings of cylinders.

(1) To provide a ring requiring only much reduced expansive tension (snap) of approximately one-half to one and one-half pounds per inch of cylinder diameter. Said tension to be measured at right angles to the opening between ends of the ring and the amount of tension to equal the force necessary to make ends of ring meet. Said tension to equal the force measured at one side and in one direction only and not to include resistive force necessary to perform measurement.

(2) To provide a ring that centers the piston in a cylinder thereby reducing piston slap.

(3) To provide a ring suited to the newer shorterstroked engines now in manufacture.

(4) To provide a ring which is faster in seating and sealing and which contacts the cylinder wall with more evenly distributed pressure thereby substantially increasing the life of the ring as well as the life of the cylinder in which it reciprocates.

(5) To provide a ring which may be manufactured from cast iron alloys in present usage without sacrificing performance.

(6) To provide a ring which will afford better control of cylinder wall lubrication thereby keeping oil consumption within proper limits.

(7) To provide a ring that does not wear the groove in the piston to an excessive degree.

(8) To provide a ring which permits very little blowby thereby lengthening the operating time of the engine before contamination necessitates an oil change (on engines having crankcase oil reservoirs).

(9) To provide a piston adapted to accept and seat said ring and having characteristics necessary to the improved performance of said ring as herein described.

(10) Finally and to sum up, to provide a ring and piston combination of a design which provides better sealing without excessive wall pressure thereby affording more economical engine operation through more completely confined combustion and reduced frictional power loss as well as giving longer engine life due to controlled lubrication. By more economical engine operation I mean reduction of combined costs of fuel and oil per mile or per other measures of usage derived from engines so equipped.

My invention is particularly intended to provide improvements in the pistons and piston rings of internal combustion engines of the diesel type to facilitate the lubrication thereof, especially in the engines of large sized r buses for city and interurban travel, to increase mileage obtainable in the travel thereof per gallon of lubricating oil and per unit of fuel used per hundred miles of travel, to afford means for gradually removing the used lubricating oil and most of the metal particles therein that result from friction caused by wear from the contact of the rings and pistons with the cylinder walls.

These objects are illustrated by the means shown in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a quarter-sectional view of an assembled cylinder, piston and piston rings at top of stroke on enlarged scale.

FIGURE 2 is a top or plan view of my ring in horizontal position.

FIGURE 3 shows a transverse enlarged scale section of my ring or an end view at the cut or gap 12.

FIGURE 4 is an edge view of the ring in vertical position.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional detail of part of the assembly of cylinder, piston and ring.

The ring in section is substantially a parallelogram in shape. The top surface 1 is at an included angle of from 45 to 88 degrees with the adjacent cylinder wall 9. The lower surface 3 is largely parallel or close to parallel with the surface 1. The surface 2 (outer circumference) rubs the cylinder wall. Surface 4 (inside circumference) is approximately parallel to the surface 2. The lower outer corner of the ring is to be removed to provide a small flat surface area 5. Area 5 is to be at substantially 90 degrees angle with the surface 2. At the intersection of surface 2 and surface 5, a small radius 6 (about .005 inch deep) is formed to permit the passing of a light oil film for lubrication.

The piston 10 is grooved as required to accept and retain the ring. Groove location is near the top of the piston. Other locations may be tried including possible usage as an oil ring. Adjoining the lower edge of the ring groove an adjacent recess 7 is formed in the piston. Area 7 is to be vented to the inside of the piston by means of ports or holes 8. The purpose of area 7 and holes 8 is to provide for the escape of excess oil and to carry off particles of metal separated from the cylinder and piston ring by wear due to friction.

In the drawings the piston is shown as moving vertically and with the combustion chamber above and the crankcase below the piston.

Various types of metals may be selected for the parts of my invention depending on the size, weight, power and flexibility desired, but I prefer to form the rings of alloyed cast iron as presently used and the pistons of cast iron or aluminum.

Various changes may be made in the size, shape and form of different parts without departing from the principles of my invention and I do not limit my claims to the precise forms shown in the drawings.

I claim:

1. The combination of a piston and piston ring for use in an internal combustion engine of the diesel type having a vertical cylinder with a firing chamber at its upper end, the combination of piston and piston ring comprising: a piston with tubular wall retroactively slidingly mounted in the cylinder, a circular groove provided in the wall of the piston near the top thereof extending from the circumference of the piston upwardly and inwardly at an angle of about 4-5 to 88 degrees from the adjacent wall of the cylinder, a piston ring of resilient metal alloy conforming in sectional dimensions generally to the dimensions of the groove but with the lowest portion of the ring cut away on a line at a right angle to the cylinder wall.

2. The combination of a piston and piston ring for use in an internal combustion engine having a vertical cylinder with a firing chamber at its upper end, the combination of piston and piston ring comprising: a piston with tubular Wall retroactively slidingly mounted in the cylinder, a circular groove provided in the wall of the piston near the top thereof extending from the circumference of the piston upwardly and inwardly at an angle of about 45 to 88 degrees from the adjacent wall of the cylinder, a piston ring of resilient metal alloy conforming in sectional dimensions generally to the dimensions of the groove, the lower outer portion of the ring being cut away on the line at a right angle to the cylinder wall, said ring having parallel inner and outer vertical faces.

3. The combination of a piston and piston ring for use in an internal combustion engine and having a plurality of cylinders, each with a firing chamber at its upper end, the combination of piston and piston ring comprising: a piston with tubular wall retroactively slidingly mounted in the cylinder, a circular groove provided in the Wall of each piston near the top thereof extending from the circumference of the piston upwardly and inwardly at an angle of about 45 to 88 degrees from the adjacent wall of the cylinder, and a piston ring of resilient metal alloy conforming in sectional dimensions generally to the dimensions of the groove with the lower outer portion of the ring cut away on a line at a right angle to the cylinder wall.

4. The combination of a piston and piston ring for use in a combustion cylinder of an internal combustion engine, the combination comprising: a piston supported concentrically and for reciprocation in the cylinder and having an outer surface in a gapped relation to the cylinder wall; outwardly opening annular surface grooves adjacent the combustion end of the piston, at least one of the grooves having an inner annular surface and upper and lower parallel surfaces axially inclined to extend outwardly and downwardly from the inner annular surface; a ring adapted to seat in the latter groove and having upper and lower parallel surfaces inclined substantially at the angular inclination of the groove, and extending across the gap between the piston and cylinder walls to engage the wall of the cylinder, and the lower side of the ring having a flat horizontal surface at its lower outer portion extending across the gap between a lower part of the lower inclined surface of the groove and the cylinder wall.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 further characterized by the corner juncture between the fiat horizontal surface and the outer surface of the ring being rounded.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 in which the piston ring is substantially in cross section a parallelogram with the inner and outer sides being vertical and the upper and lower sides being inclined.

7. In a piston ring and piston combination that is adapted to vertically reciprocate in a cylinder of an internal combusion engine and which has the combustion chamber at the top of the cylinder, the improvement comprising: a ring, the cross section of which is basically a parallelogram in shape, and located in an annular groove of similar shape encircling the upper end of the piston, the ring extending upwardly and inwardly from the circumference of the piston, the top surface of the ring forming an angle with the adjacent cylinder wall of from fortyfive to eighty-eight degrees, the lower outer corner of the ring having a small fiat that is approximately ninety degrees to the adjacent cylinder wall and the lower outermost corner thus created by the flat and outer edge of the ring is rounded at a small radius.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 383,253 5/1888 Russell 277--172 903,902 11/1908 Simmons 123--32 1,450,134 3/1923 Cisski 92160 1,465,647 8/1923 Ludlam 92-160 1,468,621 9/1923 Alford 92-160 1,584,470 5/1926 Quintenz 277-172 2,921,823 1/1960 Kestler 92160 SAMUEL LEVINE, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Examiner.

H. G. SHIELDS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE COMBINATION OF A PISTON AND PISTON RING FOR USE IN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE OF THE DIESEL TYPE HAVING A VERTICAL CYLINDER WITH A FIRING CHAMBER AT ITS UPPER END, THE COMBINATION OF PISTON AND PISTON RING COMPRISING: A PISTON WITH TUBULAR WALL RETROACTIVELY SLIDINGLY MOUNTED IN THE CYLINDER, A CIRCULAR GROOVE PROVIDED IN THE WALL OF THE PISTON NEAR THE TOP THEREOF EXTENDING FROM THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE PISTON UPWARDLY AND INWARDLY AT AN ANGLE 